Style Icons: Hélène Builly for Esquire UK

Esquire, the smart man’s guide to the best life has to offer, has set on a journey to explore why some of the most stylish male icons belong all to a bygone era. The article, bluntly titled “How come all the most enduring icons of masculine style are six feet under?”, is definitely not about project nostalgia but stating an unquestionable fact: these men’s style has stood against time and still inspires us nowadays (Tom Ford anyone?). To make this aspect unequivocally clear, Hélène Builly was called to illustrate the feature, using her eye for composition and beautiful colouring to imbue the image with a contemporary feel.

“The concept for this illustration was inspired by the 40th-anniversary cover of Esquire where they featured all their literary contributors together,” says Esquire’s Creative Director Nick Millington. “We asked Hélène to piece together a host of classic images, creating a legendary event where the most enduring icons of men’s style were together in one room. Finishing it off by colouring it up like we’ve never seen before made for an arresting image.”

The illustration sees film stars Steve McQueen, Marlon Brando, James Dean and Paul Newman rubbing elbows with Frank Sinatra and Miles Davis and bona fide legend Muhammad Ali amongst other. “The playful nature of the collage,” continues Nick, “combined with Helene’s elegant and sophisticated aesthetic lends itself perfectly to an Esquire feature.”
See more of Hélène Builly’s work here.